Disco de The Beach Boys: “Hawthorne, Ca”

For me listening to this 2 CD set conjures up a more innocent time, when kids " Horsed around " and the most important part of life was who was picking you up and who's car you'd be using. The girls were all giggles and the boys were happy just to talk to them.On one track Mike Love introduces the groups first song "Surfin' ". In that rehearsal you hear Dennis Wilson introducing himself, and the boys exchanging jabs about " popping each other in the mouth " if one of them starts to laugh. You want innocent times? Listen here. It's gratifying to hear some of the alternate tracks of songs we were used to hearing in onlyone version. Some of the accapella songs simply brought tears to my eyes. If you sit and listen to " Add Some Music " " Forever " and the real little jewel " Old Man River " you'll understand what I mean. The treatment is sensational, especially the enunciation and counterpoint.It's true genius here. There is no one who can harmonize the way the " Boys " did. Though alot of adulation is heaped onto big brother Brian, each Beach Boy should be applauded for their ingenuity and specific talents. Carl could sing like an angel and play the guitar like the devil. Dennis showed immense emotion and pathos in" every word he said " in a song. Mike could nail the low notes, and was a fantastic front man to the band. Al Jardine could sing and bring chills to the back of your neck, and Bruce sings falsetto to " beat the band. " ( Not too shabby of a writer, either.) A great CD from a great band! Buy it, you won't regret it.

I'll start out by agreeing [...] who feel there's enough filler here to comprise almost an entire CD's worth of material. So why didn't Capital simply put out a single CD and entitle it Endless Harmony Part-Two? Even with all the incidental dialog, "Vegatables" Promo and several backing tracks, there is enough substantive material here to satisfy most BB fanatics, (myself included). I was awed by the a'cappella version of Add Some Music To Your Day and Dennis Wilson's classic Forever. The stereo single version of Heroes And Villans and the extended stereo mix of Vegatables have never sounded better.

Listening to all the unreleased material contained in Hawthorne, CA, Endless Harmony and The Pet Sounds Sessions Box Set, reinfources my opinion of The Beach Boys, as THE premiere American Rock band. Sure there are Dead-Heads out there who savor every bootleg concert tape they can lay their hands on. Dylan fans waited almost thirty years for an offical release of the Royal Albert Hall Concert with The Band. But name one other band with the possible exception of The Beatles who's recorded legacy has garnered as much interest and has been written and chronicled to the degree the Beach Boys have. After fourty years we're still here...the faithful, the keepers of the faith. We still get chills everytime we hear those heatbreaking incredibly beautiful harmonies. Keep on mining the vaults and we'll keep comming back for more.

A few listeners have noted in their reviews that this is for the hardcore fan only, and I can't argue with that one bit. This is a rather esoteric collection of tracks, more geared to the serious fan and collector of Brian Wilson and Beach Boys material.

Still...with the "Good Vibrations" box, the "Pet Sounds" box, all the 2-fers with bonus material, the "Endless Harmony" set, the "Ultimate Christmas" set and now this, it's incredible to be a Beach Boys fan. So few artists and/or their labels have spent such time on releasing archive material, and in such volume. And it's hardly just filler material, it's illuminating as well as enjoyable stuff. One can hardly even argue with the talk snippets, as they provide a nice documentary fell to the CD, and make for a more enjoyable listening experience.

Yes, it's high time for a "Smile" box (dream on); it's long overdue time for a stereo issue of the classic song "Good Vibrations" (and given the complexity of that recording, one could almost argue for a whole CD devoted to the recording of that masterpiece). But who's to gripe? Capitol and the group have delivered an enormous amount of archive material that seems to have no end in sight. Wonderful...

If you loved the Endless Harmony Soundtrack that was released in 1998, you are going to love this CD. Not only is it filled with many never-before-released songs - but this was also released in connection to the band's fortieth aniversery: that is right, the only band in the whole world who have stood that long so they must be doing something right and you can tell that they are on this wonderful CD.

It has got something for everyone on this CD. If you have been tired of buying Beach Boys CDs and finding out that they are only in Mono, then you will love this because there are many tracks that have been put here in stereo - including Salt Lake City which has had a piano in the bridge. Let the Wind Blow (which happens to be one of my favourite songs from the era of the ill-fated Smile album) has also been added in stereo. A true classic.

They have also taken out all the music and had the boys just sing to some of their best work including Add Some Music To Your Day, Forever and Old Man River (and the boys have never sounded better.) And if you are a big fan of Stcak 'O' Tracks, then have Capitol done a good job for you. They have taken off some of the vocals and put on some of the music tosome of their funkiest tunes including Fun, Fun, Fun, Good To My Baby, Sail On Sailor and my favourite backing track of all time, The Little Girl I Once Knew (which comes under the title Carol K Sessions - a tribute to Brian's favourite mussician.)

But don't just go on what I have reviewed it as. If you are a big fan of the Beach Boys or wondering why so many people have thought of Brian as a genius then this is the album for you. It is songs from our favourite American band, the fabulous Beach Boys.

Capitol Records and the Beach Boys have made a cottage industry out of the CD reissue - or more specifically, the inclusion of previously unreleased material on CD reissues. It is a testament to the group's vocal talent and Brian Wilson's unique creativity that through multiple album reissues and boxed sets, right up through 1999's "Endless Harmony", they never ran out of worthy material. Consider the bottom of the barrel to have now been struck. Honestly, how many versions of "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Surfin' USA" do I really need to own? It's unlikely that even the most diehard Beach Boys fan will find themselves listening to this more than once or twice. The only thing of real interest here is the "Vegetables" section. Methinks Beach Boys fans should save their dollars for the long promised, patiently awaited _Smile_ box (which, according to EMI A&R man Ron Furmanek, has been finished and in the can for four-plus years now...).